How to Treat a Child's Diarrhea

Video Transcript

"You're concerned about your child's diarrhea. My name is Beverly Bitterman, ARMP, Health and Wellness Consultant, and I have some tips and strategies for you, to deal with this situation. What you want to do when you have a child with diarrhea, is to make sure that they don't get dehydrated, and so it's going to be important for you to do a couple of things. First of all, you want to give them some fluids, and you can start out with things like, an electrolyte solution, like Gatorade, or Pedialyte, and if they tolerate that, you can add in a little bit more, so you're wanting to replace the fluid that is lost. The other thing to do, is to avoid any foods that might be making the situation worse. Sometimes with kids with diarrhea, we talk about putting them on what we call the BRAT diet, and it's an acronym, and it stands for, B stands for bananas, R stands for rice, A stands for applesauce, and T stands for toast. Those are just some ideas of foods, that might work well with a child with an upset stomach. Again, start with small amounts of those items, and make sure that they're not making the situation worse. You want to avoid spicy foods. You want to avoid foods that are difficult to digest, like meat for example. Maybe something like a scrambled egg would work well. If the child is a baby and breastfeeding, it's fine to breastfeed. If they're a little older, you may do clear liquids, over milk, for a day or two. If your child has a fever over 102, if the diarrhea lasts over a day, I recommend that you contact your pediatrician, to get their advice on the situation, and good luck with that. My name is Beverly Bitterman, ARMP, Health and Wellness Consultant."